Open-width washing machinery



y 7, 1962 .1. WlLDE ETAL 3,044,286

OPENWIDTH WASHING MACHINERY Filed July 13, 1959 2 Shee'Es-Sheet 1 By WMd/uw' jttornys July 17, 1962 J. WlLDE ETAL 3,044,286

OPEN-WIDTH WASHING MACHINERY Filed July 15, 1959 2 Sheefs-Sheet 2 INVENTORS;

J0 Hu Wu- DE i Dn v: 0 EP. Narrow 3,044,286 OPEN-WIDTH WAHING MACEWERY John Wilde, Leyland, and David Edward Pepler Norton,

Macclesfield, England, assignors to Bleachers Association Limited, Manchester, England Filed July 13, 1959, Ser. No. 826,822 Claims priority, application Great Britain July 19, 1958 5 Claims. (Cl. 68-184) This invention concerns improvements in or relating to the treatment of material webs. More specifically the invention deals with the liquid treatment of webs of textile materials, such as the washing, dyeing or impregnation with liquid solutions such as resins, of such webs. The general term washing used hereafter is intended to include all such treatments of web materials in liquid baths.

Many types of open-width washing machines for fabric webs are in use, the most conventional consisting of one or more tanks, fitted with rollers over and under which the fabric web or cloth passes whilst passing through water or liquor, such machines usually being provided with squeeze rollers for removing excess water or liquor when the operation is completed.

In some of these machines certain additional features are provided, such as heaters to keep the water or other liquor in a state of turbulence, or sprays to force the water or liquor onto the web or cloth surface at a relatively high velocity. When sprays are provided they may be operated by the liquid pressure alone or by pumps, which draw the liquid from the treatment vessels and project it on ts atent the surface of the web or cloth. The water or other liquor used in washing may flow through the machine in. the same direction as the web or cloth, .or may be caused to flow in counter-current fashion by the provision of suitable baffles or the like.

In one known form of washing machine, oscillatory apparatus is provided to promote or encourage turbulence in the treatment liquid during the washing operation However, with such an arrangement the fabric web passing through the machine is subjected to excmsive tension and friction, which is neither good for the fabric web nor does it assist the washing operation, because fabric can be washed easier when in a slack condition. Moreover, in such an arrangement the fabric web is subjected to pulsations, and this is liable to cause the fabric to crease. The known oscillatory apparatus is quite complicated.

It is an object of the present invention to avoid the complicated constructions previously employed, and to obtain the necessary turbulence during the washing operation by means of one or more simple vibratory members, the or each of which gives the desired effect without excessively disturbing the liquor and without tensioning the fabric. The advantages of such an arrangement are that the vibratory member is compact and consumes relatively little power for its operation. Moreover, it is highly efiicient from the point of view of removing traces of bleaching or other agents applied to the fabric, in that a minimum amount of water or liquor is used, and little of this is lost through splashing. A further object of the invention is to provide a machine which will effect a thorough washing of material webs in a shorter time than has hitherto been possible and which will accelerate the application of dyes, resins or padding to material webs.

To achieve the desired effects the vibratory member and the inner walls of the liquid container are profiled as hereinafter more particularly described. It has previously been proposed to provide a battle within the well of a fabric dyeing machine and to profile both the faces of the baffle and the inner surfaces of the well, thereby creating greater turbulence and better penetration in the continuous treatment of fabrics. With this earlier conice struction, however, the baffle is rigidly mounted within the well, i.e. there is no relative movement between the parts, and the degree of turbulence which can'be achieved with such an arrangement is insuflicient for washing and like processes.

According to the present invention then, a machine for treating web material comprises a liquid container of tapered internal configuration adapted to receive a travelling web, in close proximity to the walls thereof, and at least one agitator member located within the container and defining with the inner walls thereof a narrow passage through which the travelling web may move whilst submersed in liquid, the agitator member and the inner Walls of the container provided with a plurality of transverse or substantially transverse corrugations, serrations or the like projections on the faces defining said narrow passage and the agitator member being adapted for continual longitudinal reciprocation within the container.

A machine for treating web material according to the present invention may comprise a liquid container of tapered internal configuration adapted \to receive a travelling web, at least one agitator member located within said container and defining with said container a narrow passage through which a travelling web may move whilst submerged in liquid, and actuating means for continually reciprocating said agitator member longitudinally within said container, said agitator member and the inside of said container being provided with a plurality of transverse projections, The actuating means may be in the form of an adjustable eccentric drive.

In its simplest form the web-treatment machine according to the invention consists of a V-shaped box which is of relatively narrow and deep construction. A roller may be provided at the bottom of the box for the purpose of guiding the material web as it travels through the box in close proximity to the walls thereof. Fitted inside the box is a reciprocata-ble agitator member which may consist of a plunger of V-shaped cross section, both the exterior surfaces of this member being provided with corrugations, serrations or the like projectionsextending transversely or substantially transversely of the member. Means are provided to reciprocate the agitator member in a vertical direction within the box to induce turbulence of the liquid contained within the box. The inner walls of the V-shaped box are provided-withtransverse or substantially transverse corrugations, serrations or the like projections similar to those exhibited by the agitator member. To prevent excess pressure being built up within the box on the downward stroke of the agitator member and to avoid spillage of the treatment liquid from the box, the member may be of hollow construction and have a flap valve in the base thereof to allow liquid to enter the member as the latter moves downwardly.

treatment machine according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail of the lower part of the embodiment of FIG. 3, illustrating the valve arranged in the bottom of the reciprocable agitator.

FIG. 1 shows the invention in its simplest form wherein a deep box 10 having an internal configuration which tion of travel is substantially reversed.

Within the box 10 a solid agitator member 12 is mounted for vertical reciprocation, the mechanism for' etfecting the reciprocation, such asaneccentric drive 16, being shown schematically in FIG. 1. The outer faces of agitator member 12, which together with the adjacent Walls of the box 19 form a narrow passage through which material web W is led, are provided with a plurality of transverse or substantially transverse corrugations, serrations or the like projections 13. The inner walls of the box 10 are also provided with transverse or substantially transverse corrugations, serrations or the like projections.

'Ihe reciprocatory movement of agitator member 12, acting as a plunger within box 10, imparts a local turbulence to the treatment liquid within the box, due to the profiled faces of member 12. This effect is increased due to the inner walls of box 10 being similarly profiled. As a result of this local turbulence within the narrow passage defined by the juxtaposed and relatively moving walls of box 10 and member 12, the treatment liquid, whether it be a washing liquor, a solution of dye or resin or a padding, is worked into, and is taken up by, the web W. The wedge shape of the reciprocating member 12 increases the fluctuations in pressure within box 10 during operation of the machine, and facilitates the treat- I throughout its length.

It will be appreciated that the fluctuations of pressure within the box are not as pronounced with the arrangement of FIG. 2 as they are with those of FIG. 1 due to the fact that the agitator members 14 and 15 displace less liquid within the box as they reciprocate than does member 12 of FIG. 1.

In each of the illustrated embodiments of the invention the movement of the or each agitator member may be e'nected by a variable or fixed pitch cam unit driven by a variable or fixed speed motor, or by a vibrator mechanism. For ease of illustration the means for effecting reciprocation have been shown only in FIG. 1.

V The action of the reciprocating agitator member or members is such as to cause violent internal turbulence of the water surrounding the material web W and this action greatly facilitates the removal of foreign matter, in washing operations, or.the penetration of the investing liquid, such as solutions of dyes, resins or padding, contained within the box *10' inother treatment processes. Thegshapeof the agitator membersis such as to obtain this effect with practically no surface splashing and consequential lossof liquid. As a further precaution against surface splashing and consequential loss of liquid the arrangement shown in FIG 1 may be modified in the manner illustrated in FIG. 3. In the modified construction the solid agitator member is replaced by one of hollow configuration and a flap valve 18 is arranged in the bottom thereof, as maybe seen from the enlarged detail of FIG. '4, wherein the valve is shown in full lines in a closed condition, and in dashed lines in an open condition. With'suoh an arrangement, as the hollow agitator member 12 descends flap. valve 18 opens and allows treatment liquor to enter the member. When the latter reaches the end of its downward stroke and commences to rise, flap valve 18 closes and prevents liquid leaving the member. The liquid forced into member 12 may be allowed to spill over the top of the agitator or may be led away by the pipe 17 shown in FIG. 3. In this way the treatment liquid is continually circulated so that stagnationis prevented and even treatment of the material web throughout the machine is obtained. Furthermore the provision of a hollow agitator member with a flap valve 18 prevents excessive pressure fluctuations being produced within the machine. 7

.The width of the passage defined between the walls of the box and the agitator member or members will depend on the nature of the treatment to be effected and on the material being treated, and will alter continually during reciprocation of the agitator member. It is preferable to arrange for the initial width of this passage to be adjustable to suit any desired conditions; An initial passage width of 3" has been found suitable in washing material webs.

Furthermore, it is desirable to make provision for enabling the amount of movement of the or each agitator member (is. the length of its stroke) to be adjustable according to the treatment required. A stroke of /4" on an agitator mounted in a 3 foot deep box has been found effective for general purposes. The speed of reciprocation may be variable between upper and lower limits, and one of between 300 and 400 strokes per minute has been found suitable for washing purposes.

The or each agitator member may be made partially or completely from stainless steel. i

We claim:

l. A machine for treating web material comprising a V-shaped liquid container of relatively narrow and deep construction adapted to receive a travelling web, a roller located near the bottom of said container for guiding web materials travelling therethrough, a V-shaped solid agitator member located within said container and defining with said container a narrow passage through which a travelling web may move whilst submerged in liquid, and actuating means for continually reciprocating said agitator member vertically within said container, said agitator member being provided with a plurality of transverse projections.

'2. A machine for treating web material comprising a V-shaped liquid container of relatively narrow and deep construction adapted to receive a travelling web, a roller located near the bottom of said container for guiding Web materials travelling therethrough, a hollow, V-shaped agitator member located within said container to define therewith a narrow passage through which a travelling web may move whilst submerged in liquid, actuating means for continually reciprocating said hollow agitator member vertically within said container, and a fiap valve mounted in the base of said hollow agitator member and being arranged to open as said member moves downwardly within said container so allowing liquid to enter said member and to close as said member moves upwardly Within said container, said'hollow agitator member and the inside of said liquid container being provided with a plurality of transverse projections.

3. A' machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein said actuating means is an eccentric drive.

4. A machine for treating web material comprising a V-shaped liquid containerof relatively narrow and deep construction adapted to receive a travelling Web, a roller located near the bottom of said container for guiding web materials travelling therethrough, two reciprocable agitator members arranged in V-formation'within said container and forming therewith a narrow passage through which a travelling web may move Whilst submerged in liquid, and actuating means for continually reciprocating said agitator members longitudinally of their lengths Within said container, said agitator members and the inside of said liquid container being provided with a plurality of transverse projections.

5. A machine for treating web material comprising a V-shaped liquid container of relatively narrow and deep construction adapted to receive a travelling web, a. roller located near the bottom of said container for guiding web material travelling therethrough, a V-shaped agitator located within said container to define therewith a narrow passage through which a travelling Web may move whilst submerged in liquid, and actuating means for continually reciprocating said agitator vertically within said container, said agitator and the inside of said liquid container being provided with a plurality of transverse projections.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Kuhn May 31, Newnam Jan. 18, Fornelli Jan. 29,

FOREIGN PATENTS Austria Jan. 10, Great Britain June 26, Great Britain Apr. 17, Great Britain Oct. 8,

Germany Nov. 8, 

